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How To Read Revelation - Part 1
Revelation 1:1-8
Only God has all the answers, and when we try to have all the answers we fall into the same trap Adam and Eve did when they tried to be like
The Bible should never be approached with a fear to engage it, for it is the Word of God delivered to us, revealed to us, for knowing and following
We will be clear about the things that can be known, and in the process we’ll discover that God has given us enough for us to be faithful for our living
The Book of Revelation is unlike most other New Testament writings in that it is a book of
Revelation’s style of writing was fairly common in the first century, and so readers would have had some
1The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.—Revelation 1:1-3 (NIV11)
When used in the New Testament, “revelation” always has the religious sense of a divine disclosure, a revealing by God, and a revealing by God presumes we
Vs. 1 tells us that this “revelation” is not primarily about the appearing or revealing of Christ himself, though the writing certainly does that, but rather, as the text says, the revealing of “what must soon
The earliest witnesses, the early church fathers of the first couple of centuries of the Church, almost universally attributed the writing of Revelation to John the
The early witness of Church Father Irenaeus, writing in 185, stated that the
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.—Revelation 1:9 (NIV11)
Our focus will be that Revelation was written by the apostle John around 95 AD, when he was a wise, old apostle, given the privilege of receiving this vision for Jesus Christ to write down and share with believers to
4John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. 8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” —Revelation 1:4-8 (NIV11)
The number seven represents wholeness, perfection or completeness, perhaps signifying that these seven churches represented
What John focuses on in these first verses is God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
Vs. 1
- Jesus is the “
Vs. 4
- “him who
- “the
- vs. 5 once again, “
Vs. 5
- a threefold identity and function of Jesus as the “faithful
- the “
Vss. 5-6
- three indications of Jesus’ saving work: “who
- “has
- “and
Vs. 8
- John tells us God is the “
- “the
- “who
- “
God has the final word and can be
Next Week: Revelation 1:9-20